Francis Duggan

In The Local Football Oval - Poem by Francis Duggan

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In the floodlight lit football oval each weeknight after teaI hear the young men shouting as they train diligentlyAs their coach puts them through their training drills their exuberance I hearThey sprint about in the chill night air in the coldest time of year.

Some of the young players under twenty they have their dreams of fameThat they yet may become famous in Australia's only indigenous gameTo play in an Australian Football League Grand final would be a dream come trueA dream that's dreamt by many and realized by only a few.

In the well lit football oval they kick ball and sprint aroundAnd in their endeavour to become match fit they cover miles of groundAnd they perform push ups and pull ups and natural muscle in this way they gainFor one cannot expect sporting success if for success you do not train.

In the local football oval where dreams are born and dieThe shoutings of the young men echoes to the starry skyIn the chill evening air of late Autumn you hear them cheer and shoutAs they race through the oval and chase the ball about.

I hear them every evening from six thirty till after eightIn the local football oval five hundred metres from my front gateThe town's young budding football stars not quite yet in their primeAnd they dream of sporting greatness that will withstand the test of time.